Gwinnett Daily Post

NORCROSS -- Seven-year-olds and good friends Annalisa Allen and Selah Btembke have big dreams.

Allen wants to be a marine biologist, a field she plans to take by storm with the invention of a "fish food cannon," which will attract underwater dwellers so that she and fellow scientists can take photos.

Btembke has plans to be a world-renown writer, a career she's already begun.

The Norcross Elementary students took a moment to consider their futures on Wednesday as part of a districtwide celebration of the first 100 days of school. Students commemorated the milestone in different ways around the school and throughout Gwinnett County.

Assistant Principal Kenya Johnson said the event, among other things, offers children a chance "to learn a lot about math. They're learning about the calendar, they're learning about time and they learn to count by different increments to 100."

Other schools held similar events. Walnut Grove Elementary held a 100th Scavenger Hunt for students, using circles that represent the numbers 1-100 all over the school and classrooms. At Norton Elementary, art students made a 100-day quilt and voted for 100 of their favorite books. Ms. Boone's class made trail mix by counting out 100 pieces of cereal. Ms. Bradley's class related 100 activities to literature. And Ms. Smith's class made 100-day T-Shirts and posters with 100 items.

Back At Norcross Elementary, students marched through the halls chanting, sporting hats with the number 100, toting shakers with 100 things inside them and wearing necklaces with 100 Froot Loops pieces on them.

Norcross students Andrew Romero-Ramirez, 6, and Fernando Garcia, 7, made cut-out pictures that speculated on what they might look like in 100 years. Romero-Ramirez presented his with pride. "100 years is a long time away," the boy said.

But sometime between graduating from high school and his 100th birthday, Romero-Ramirez hopes to go to "go to college and be a policeman."

His pal, Garcia, has hopes to be a DNA scientist. If their dreams should cross paths, so be it, Garcia said.

"Maybe in the future, we will work together," he said. "It's fun to think about the future."